Cited July 2015 edition of FDI Alliance
RaNoda – what inspired you to bring your marketing expertise to Port Arthur?
Being a native of Port Arthur, Texas a town with the population of about 55,000 residents and a skilled workforce. I chose to bring my Marketing expertise to the community I was raised in and a community I love. Port Arthur, Texas is ideally a great location to live, work, and play.
Port Arthur is known to the world as the largest petrochemical area with MOTIVA refinery being the #1 refinery in North America–However, Port Arthur, Texas has so much more to offer to the world. Port Arthur is 90 miles from the 4th largest city in the world (Houston, Texas), 10 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, 30 minutes from the Louisiana state line, has a Regional Airport, 300-acre Industrial Business Park, an International Port with crane access and easy access to interstate 10.
Port Arthur is a mecca waiting to explode because we can definitely BUILD IT, SHIP IT and RAIL IT.
Tell us about your award at the IEDC annual conference in Texas last year and why were you victorious?
Last year, I entered into the IEDC’s Excellence in Economic Development Awards Showcase with the hopes to really expose Port Arthur. The results were amazing, I was honored to receive the silver award in the category of Paid Advertising Campaign for Population 25,000-200,000. This was a huge success for my city as well as my CEO and his Board of Directors.
The project is a paid advertising campaign with focus on Site Selector Magazines and Billboards in the Houston, Texas market. This advertising campaign was created in order for the City of Port Arthur Economic Development Corporation to attract both regional and global decision RaNoda McClain-Lee Marketing Manager/Business Recruitment Port Arthur Economic Development Corporation makers such as site selectors and business consultant’s; especially those in the logistics industry to Port Arthur, Texas.
The goal was to raise awareness of what Port Arthur has to offer and why companies should consider relocating or moving to our community. In 2013, the Port Arthur Economic Development Board of Directors added my position as Marketing Manager to its personnel to accomplish this task, knowing that small businesses are the engine that drives Port Arthur’s economy, and aids in helping to create the kinds of jobs and opportunities that are so necessary to our continuous community growth.
Supplementing the campaign advertisement Build It, Ship It, Rail It in Port Arthur, Texas was emphasis on our local business attraction using social media outlets, including Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
What strategies do you have in place to attract International Trade to Port Arthur in the next 3 years?
The strategies I currently have in place to attract International Trade to Port Arthur is to continue to market globally, attend conferences, trade shows, and forums, and build solid working relationships with investors, site selectors, and consultants on why Port Arthur is the #1 location to relocate or build a business. Relationship building is about 80% of Economic Development success.
RaNoda as the Marketing arm of your organization how important is it to attend conferences and events and meet site selectors?
It is extremely important to attend conferences and events in order to meet the investors, the site sectors and the consultants because that one on one conversation and relationship building is key to landing your next business or prospect. As I stated in the question above…relationship building is vital and a huge percentage in the economic development world.
RaNoda briefly outline your educational background and why you chose Marketing as your passion?
I graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in Port Arthur, Texas with High Honors and continued my education at Lamar University- Beaumont where I obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree with a concentration in Management Information Systems and Marketing.
I worked for the #1 brand in the world Coca-Cola Refreshments for eight years and in doing so I was trained to sell the portfolio, develop and expand my territory, and market the brand Coca-Cola which is recognized globally.
Marketing is definitely my passion because I feel it takes a special someone to cultivate, market and brand a community.
RaNoda how important is it to continuously reinvent the wheel to showcase Port Arthur as Texas’s number one Investment destination?
It is very important to reinvent the wheel because the world is steadily and endlessly changing. What may be relevant today, may not be relevant five to seven years from now or even tomorrow. You have to keep new ideas coming in, you have to stay relevant on social media, in the magazines, or even a billboard…the key to success is to market and brand daily and build those ideal relationships.
You have to keep it new, fresh and sleek.
BUILD IT, SHIP IT, RAIL IT in Port Arthur.
